Houston and Licorice

Houston absolutely loves Peyton's cat Licorice. She is an outdoor cat but will occasionally sneek in through the door and Houston loves it when she does. He will just follow her around everywhere laughing. She is so funny too. She likes to tease him with her tail by walking around swishing it back and forth to get his attention. She is such a good cat. She just sits there lets him chew on the end of her tail, her paw and her ear. It's kind of gross but really funny. Here are some pictures of Houston and Licorice looking out the back door at the dogs playing.






Licorice had 5 kittens about 5 weeks ago I think. There are 3 black with a little tiger stripe on their bellies and 2 grey tiger stripe. Peyton wants to keep 1 grey tiger strip and I am looking for good homes for a couple more if you are looking for a good cat. They are really friendly as they have been in our garage since they were born and Peyton plays with them everyday. They have their eyes open and are walking all over the place. They will be ready to leave in about 3 weeks. I guess its 8 weeks for kitties too.

Fun at the Pool with Cousins

This last Wednesday me and the kids met my Aunt Laurie, cousin Jessie and her son Braxton, and cousin Calie and her little guy Jaren at the Veterans Memorial Pool in Provo. It was a really awesome pool because it had this playground set up in the middle of this kids pool with all these slides and water spraying everywhere. We had lunch at the park next door first, then let the kids play in the pool for a couple hours, and then let them play back at the park for a little while. We had a lot of fun. Thanks for the invitition!

I got a couple pictures in the pool but then we were told by a life guard that you can't take pictures at the facility so I didn't get too many.


My cute pregnant cousin Jessie with Houston


Braxton in the goggles


Jessie, Houston and Braxton


Peyton, Houston, Braxton and Jaren on break enjoying some snacks

Draper Days Rodeo

This last Friday night we attended the Draper Days Rodeo. We were pretty busy between Bradyn and Peyton both competing. Bradyn competed in the steer wrestling and ended up tying for 1st. He did so good it made it a lot of fun. Peyton has been wanting to ride a sheep again so bad and I finally got her signed up for the muttin bustin. She didn't stay on very long and hit pretty hard when she fell off. She cried a little and says that she doesn't want to ride a sheep again but we'll see. That's what she said last summer after she rode a sheep at the West Jordan rodeo and then a month later she wanted to ride again but next time a girl sheep. They gave all the participants a cute drink holder in the shape of a cowboy boot that says "draper days" with a can of root beer so she was pretty stoked and she even ended up in the newspaper (see below). After she did the muttin bustin she competed in the money calf. If you don't know, this is where a bunch of kids chase a calf in the arena that has dollar bills stuck all over it. She is a pretty slow runner and didn't get any money but still had fun.

We went to the rodeo again last night just to watch and she saw the hide race going on and said that she wanted to do that (ride the hide pulled by a fast moving horse). I laughed and told her she wasn't old enough but maybe another time and she got all upset. That's one thing about Peyton, she is not afraid to try anything at least once.


Hallie and Peyton behind the bucking shutes all excited to ride sheep


Peyton after she fell off her sheep (hard to see)


This picture of Peyton and Bradyn was taken by a reporter for the Deseret News after Peyton rode her sheep. The picture was online dated 7/11/09 but I am not sure if it was in the actual paper copy of the newspaper.

More Fun in the Water

This last Friday I watched Preslie and Colter while my sister in-law Haylee went to school. Peyton was so excited for Preslie to come over. Haylee told me she would be at my house at 8:30 a.m. so I told Peyton that when she woke up Preslie would be there because Peyton don't usually wake up until around 9:00 on my days off. Well Peyton woke up at 7:30 from excitement and then was upset because Preslie wasn't there yet. I got the little pool out for the kids and they all had fun playing in the pool, the sandbox, on the swingset and jumping on the trampoline.


Houston and Colter in the pool (love this picture!)


McKenzie (neighbor), Marissa (neighbor), Preslie, Peyton, Colter and Houston


Preslie swinging

4th of July Weekend

We had a really fun 4th of July weekend this year. Some of our friends had been trying to talk us into going out to Tabiona for the big rodeo and team roping jackpot so that's what we did. We took our camping trailer and camped right there at the arena with our friends Jimmy and Tiffanie, Ty and Valynn, Adam and Malissa, Chip and Alayna, and all the kids. There was a bunch of other people we knew camping right at the arena as well. Bradyn didn't get in the rodeo because they didn't have steer wrestling so on Friday and Saturday night we just cheered our friends on. Bradyn did get in the jackpot though so he was busy with that during the day on Saturday.

While the jackpot was going on us girls took the kids down to the parade. It was mostly a horse, car and 4-wheeler parade and no big floats (you know how those small town parades are), but it was still probably the best parade I have been too. They threw tons of candy, beaded neclaces, balls, otter pops, bracelets and lots of other toys to the kids. My kids loaded up and had a lot of fun. There was also a booth set up at the arena with the cutest jeans, shirts, hats, purses, wallets and jewelry. So while the jackpot was going on we couldn't pass up on a little shopping and I bought myself a really cute new outfit.

After the rodeo Saturday night they had fireworks so we watched those and then after Jimmy lit some small ground fireworks for the kids. My kids loved them especially Houston. He was just constantly smiling and laughing.

On our way home yesterday we stopped at my Grandma Carolyn's in Hanna to see her. She was at church when we got there so we rode her 6-wheeler down to her bridge on the river and did a little fishing. We didn't catch anything and never even had a bite. We think it was the wrong time of day. But we still had fun. We had a yummy lunch when she got home and visited with her for little bit and then headed home from our busy 4th of July weekend.

Fun in the Water

It has finally warmed up enough outside that the kids can play in the little swimming pool and sprinklers. They have been loving it! Here are some pictures from last week of Peyton, Houston and Marissa, Peyton's friend from next door.

Peyton's First Horse Show

Last night we took Peyton to the Open Kids Horse Show in South Jordan that was put on by the Mavericks Riding Club. It was her first horse show and she was so excited for it but let me tell you it was an eventful night.

She loves to rope so we put her in the dummy roping contest that was held before the horse show started. She got out roped but still had fun. Then she competed on Rummy in barrels, poles and the flag race. She was especially excited for the barrels because she had been practicing and can do them all by herself. She didn't want Bradyn leading her through them so he took her in the arena and turned her loose but for some reason Rummy went in the wrong direction, I'm not sure if on his own or if Peyton pulled him that way but Bradyn ended up grabbing a hold of him to point him in the right direction and that was a mistake. It made Peyton mad and then even more mad when he ended up leading her through the rest of the barrels. Next was the poles and I told Bradyn that she didn't want to be lead and to just let her follow him through the pole pattern since she hadn't practiced them. She was doing really good until she got to the last pole and then Rummy took off to run back to the start. He was going pretty fast and I think she panicked and forgot to pull back on the reins to stop him but she just held on so good with both hands on the saddle horn all the way down the arena and never fell off. It scared her a little so she had Bradyn lead through the flag race which was a good idea because Rummy was wanting to go a little faster than Peyton could probably handle.

Rummy is such a good horse and we are so thankful to have him. Rummy is Bradyn's oldest horse and he rode him in riding club when he was a kid and he obviously didn't forget because he was just doing what he was supposed to do. Heck she is only 4 years old what do you expect. Peyton will hopefully be old enough to compete in riding club next spring which will be good for her so that she can become a better rider and Rummy will be the perfect horse for her. I am just so proud of her for doing it and I still think she did such a good job. Call me crazy but I wasn't even scared when they took off running down the arena, I just kept recording ha, ha:). I knew she would hold on tight and I knew Rummy would take care of her.

All the kids that competed received ribbons and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishers for the high point for each age group split up into 8 and under, 9-12 and 13-15 year olds received belt buckles and the winners of each event for each of the age groups received prizes such as buckets, brushes, halters, etc. Peyton competed against 24 other kids in her age group so obviously she ended up with a ribbon after the night she had besides there are some pretty good little 7 and 8 year olds that can ride. She liked her ribbon but was a little dissapointed that she didn't receive a belt buckle. I explained to her that the kids that went the fastest won the belt buckles and she told me "but mom I went the fastest (meaning the poles episode) so I should have won a belt buckle".

Here are just a few pictures from the night. I was recording and Bradyn was helping Peyton so it was hard to get many pictures.


Peyton competing in the roping contest




Peyton waiting to compete in the barrels


Peyton and Preslie


Peyton competing in the poles